It has previously been proposed to user laser light instead of a spark to ignite the charge in an engine. In a spark ignited engine it is common to use a distributor to apply the high voltage pulses generated by a single ignition coil sequentially to the spark plugs of several cylinders. In the same way, if a multi-cylinder laser ignited engine is to use a single laser source to generate laser pulses for several cylinders, then a distributor is required to direct the output laser beam of the common laser source sequentially to the different combustion chambers.
As with spark ignition, the timing of the laser ignition pulses may be varied in relation to the crankshaft phase angle and accordingly the distributor must the capable of directing the beam of the laser light source to each of the cylinders over a wide range of crank shaft angles.